On September the 2nd, 2022, in a welcome move, the Indian government announced a 60-day special maternity leave for women who give birth to stillborn babies […]
From Roe v. Wade to Dobbs v. Jackson: Legal Reasoning and Lawmaking
While the change of opinion of the US Supreme Court from allowing abortion in Roe v. Wade in 1973 to prohibiting it in Dobbs v. Jackson […]
SVRF- A Revolutionary Framework to Eliminate Sexual Violence
The Sexual Violence Response Framework 2020- 2024 (SVRF)[1] has been developed by the Government of Sindh (GoS) with technical support of the Legal Aid Society (LAS).[2] […]
Fighting Rape with Legislative Reform
[TRIGGER WARNING] “Legal language does more than express thoughts. It reinforces certain world views and understanding of events.”[1] The crime of rape is old in age, […]
Sigh of Relief: Two-Finger Test Abolished, Anti-Rape Ordinance Promulgated
Pakistan, after the partition of the subcontinent and its independence from British rule, inherited most of the British legal framework and its practices. An infamous practice […]
Timely Abolishment of the Two-Finger Test Would Have Favoured Mukhtaran Mai’s Rape Appeal – In Conversation with Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan
[TRIGGER WARNING: Graphic Content] Ever since Justice Ayesha Malik ruled in favour of the abolishment of the abhorrent two-finger test in rape cases, I was intrigued […]
No More Dignity Trials
No More Dignity Trials Lamented as a colonial relic but also labeled as pejorative and contemptuous, the “two finger test” has been used to ascertain whether […]
What the LHC Decision on the Virginity Test Means
The mere thought of a traumatized female rape victim having to go through something as gruesome as the compulsory two-finger virginity test is enough to send […]
Extending Women’s Rights to Unilateral, No-Fault Based Khula
The injunctions of Islam regarding gender are based on equality without any discrimination whatsoever. However, women in Pakistan have been struggling to obtain these rights guaranteed […]
In Loving Memory of Shaigan Shareef Malik
إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُون We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mr Shaigan Shareef Malik, former Federal Secretary (Pakistan Administrative Service BS-22), Government of […]
Redressing Under-Representation of Women in Law with Alumnae-i Network for Harvard Women
The Alumnae-i Network for Harvard Women (ANHW) Pakistan presents the Islamabad Bar Council Election Debate 2020: Redressing Under-representation of Women in Law, scheduled to take place […]
The Indignity of the Two-Finger Test
Two men recently brutally raped a woman in front of her two minor children when her car broke down on the night of 10th September, 2020 […]
Sexual Violence During Armed Conflict: An Inevitable Reality?
Despite being acts of shame, sexual atrocities have been committed against women since a long time. ‘Sexual violence’ is not a new term but it is […]
Dowry: A Hushed But Existing Relic
[Dowry or jahaiz is the money, goods, or estate that a wife brings for her husband in a marriage] Once in a blue moon, people march […]
Trying to Make Sense of Anti-Aurat March Sentiments
Trying to Make Sense of Anti-Aurat March Sentiments Aurat Marches in Pakistan have had their rather generous share of critics—for instance, the state, religious institutions, and […]
Towards Effective Remedies Against Forced Conversions
Towards Effective Remedies Against Forced Conversions In an increasingly volatile state-society complex like Pakistan, human rights violations continue to surface time and again, bringing individual suffering […]
Anti-Harassment Laws in Pakistan
Anti-Harassment Laws in Pakistan Sexual harassment is a non-consensual act, carried out either physically or mentally, or through words spoken towards another person, in a sexual […]